Cheney: War Powers Act violates Constitution

By JEN DIMASCIO | 12/21/08 12:00 PM EST

'I think that what we've done has been totally consistent with what the Constitution provides for,' Cheney said in an interview with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday."
Photo: AP

Outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney provided a vigorous defense of some of the most controversial aspects of the Bush presidency’s expansive definition of executive powers, including denying detainees accused of terrorism the right to a trials, aggressive interrogation techniques and increased domestic surveillance.

“I think that what we've done has been totally consistent with what the Constitution provides for,” he said in an interview with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday."

That certainty extends to lingering disputes about giving detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba access to trials.

Looking back on eight years in office, Cheney pointed to the absence of attacks on the nation since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and said although the commander-in-chief’s methods were not always popular, they were rooted in historical precedent and justified.

“First of all, you've got to remember that what we did after 9-11 was make a judgment that the terrorist attacks we were faced with were not a law enforcement problem, they were, in fact, a war. It was a war against the United States — and therefore, that we were justified in using all the means available to us to fight that war.

“And in a war, you capture the enemy and you hold them until the war is over with,” Cheney said. “You don't capture German prisoners of war and then put them on trial in World War II. That's not what we had to deal with here. But in terms of what kind of rights these folks had, they were not covered by the Geneva Convention. They were unlawful combatants.”

With regard to the powers available to the president on national security, Cheney, a former congressman, continues to disagree with Congress writing into statute limits on presidential power, and even deemed the 1973 War Powers Act "a violation of the Constitution."

“The War Powers Act is still in force out there today, that requires him to grant certain notifications to the Congress and give them the authority to supercede those by vote if they want to when it comes to committing troops,” Cheney said. “No president has ever signed off on the proposition that the War Powers Act is constitutional. I would argue that it is, in fact, a violation of the Constitution; that it's an infringement on the president's authority as the commander-in-chief. It's never been resolved, but I think it's a very good example of a way in which Congress has tried to limit the President's authority and, frankly, can’t.”

The interview concluded with a speed round that brought forth the second-in-command’s views on Osama bin Laden, a salty exchange with a Vermont senator and the future election prospects of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

On failing to capture bin Laden since the 9-11 attacks, Cheney noted, “Capturing Osama bin Laden is something we clearly would love to do — there are 30 days left.”

But Cheney has no regrets about a 2004 incident in which he told Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy to go “bleep” himself. “I thought he merited it at the time,” Cheney said. “And we've since, I think, patched over that wound and we're civil to one another now.”

Cheney seemed cool about the prospects of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“That's up to Sarah Palin whether or not she wants to pursue higher office again,” he said. “I don’t think she has any kind of lock on that. She’ll have to go out and earn it just as anybody else would have to.”